


Names and Promises

by yourfriendlyneighborhoodanon



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies RPF, Thor (Movies) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Mermaid, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-15
Updated: 2012-10-15
Packaged: 2017-11-16 08:52:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/537674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourfriendlyneighborhoodanon/pseuds/yourfriendlyneighborhoodanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mermaid Tom has taken Chris as his human lover, and Tom's feelings for Chris are fighting with his dangerous instincts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Names and Promises

 

Thomas wasn't his real name of course. His real name was hidden tight in a white pearl buried far in the sand of the empty ocean floor. But Thomas would do for now. He had chosen it on a whim, from listening to human conversations dripping off the railings of ships. Humans needed names. It comforted them and made them forget the immensity of the mystery that existed in this world. It made things easy for them to confine. Tom thought it was endearing, really, how attached his human had become to his name. When they fucked Chris would say it over and over rhythmically, in time to their thrusts. 

Chris was not his first human lover, not nearly. Tom had been taking humans since long before Chris was nothing but a wailing infant. He had tasted many, men and women. Some had pleased him, but most he abandoned or gave to the sea before he could tire of them. He didn't usually keep them this long. And to be honest with himself, he wasn't sure that Chris wasn't keeping him as well. The thought troubled him, and Tom's high forehead crinkled in thought. 

He was floating just under the surface of the water, looking up. The sunlight made ripples into prisms that darted bands of light across his body. His auburn curls floated around his head, gently tangling with the subtle rocking of the ocean. Tom had taken a deep breath of air, and now he let it out in a long sigh, sinking slowly into the calm sea as silvered bubbles made a spiral column above him, connecting him to the surface. He thought of Chris. The way Chris would stroke his tail after they made love, lying in the surf or on the sand together, reluctant to move. Tom was used to his humans clinging to him afterwards, or fleeing in shock at the thought of what they had done. But Chris would just lie there and look into his eyes and say "Tom" as if the word could describe him, as if it could contain him. He floated deeper, light fading around him. He could see the shape of the boat above him, a dark shadow cutting cleanly through the sun. 

Tom turned effortlessly in the water, tawny tail flowing behind him and climbed back towards the surface. It was sunset, and Tom new most of the humans on the ship would be retiring to their cabins or going below-decks to gamble and gorge themselves on food and drink. But Chris would stay on deck, leaning out over the edge, one foot resting on the railing and strong arms draped over his knee. Tom had watched him for weeks before he had decided. The passengers changed, flickering through Chris's life like fireworks in bursts of color and activity but none of them lasted. Tom knew the lonely ones were the easiest. Sometimes he almost felt sorry for them.

But Chris… Chris had started out the same. The disbelief, the frightened laughter, the wide eyes and hands running through his hair, breathing deep to slow his pounding heart. Tom knew all the steps. But then Chris had looked at him— _really_ looked at him. And for a moment Tom almost thought that Chris could see inside him. That he could see the cold heart through his charm and smiles and velvety words. He almost believed Chris could see all the way into his lonely soul.

The first time they fucked it was on the beach. When Tom first showed himself to Chris he had wanted to pull him off the balcony and into the cold ocean, but Chris had laughed and said he preferred to stay up here where it was warm and dry thank you very much. "I don't take kindly to drowning" he had called softly down to Tom. Already he was cleverer than some. If he had lowered himself down in a lifeboat or better yet jumped naked off the rail in a passion Tom had planned to take him only once.

He would have kept them afloat at first, stirring his tail in the water to hold them up at the surface. He would let Chris kiss him and stroke him under the water until he was hard and ready. And then once he had received Chris's sloppy embraces and pathetic declarations he would press close and slide himself into Chris's soft, warm body. At first Chris would be lost in the pleasure and when their heads dipped under the surface he would sputter and kick but he would smile, unbelieving of danger.

And then Tom would hold him even more tightly and they would sink down down down while Tom claimed him. He would have twined himself around Chris's sturdy human body and wound his tail around Chris's legs, keeping them apart with its bulk. He would press their chests together, still moving in and out and hold Chris until he thrashed and air escaped from his mouth like a flock of birds. His golden tail would squeeze, and his passion would mingle with Chris's fresh panic. He would fuck him brutally as they fell, and revel in the desperation he would see in Chris's eyes, taking his struggles for air and matching them with rough thrusts and cruel kisses, and finally he would release inside him as lust and death met. He had done it before.

But Chris didn't jump. He stayed up, stayed safe, and peered down with curious blue eyes. So Tom decided to keep him. They had made a rendezvous on an empty beach and after, when Tom's tail was still tangled with Chris's legs and the tide coming in washed the signs of their sex away, Tom knew he would keep this one longer. It was only after that Tom realized he had made a mistake.

Chris made him promise. Oh he had made a thousand promises and broken most of them without a thought. He was made to break things. But when he promised Chris and looked into his piercing eyes he realized he meant it. And he came back. Each time he came back, and each time he told himself it would be the last and he would leave Chris to his predictable human life or drown him in a fit of fury. But he didn't. And each time he promised. And each time he came.

Now Tom breached the surface of the water near the side of the ship, and there he was. His blonde hair was flying around his face in the wind as he leaned over the railing like always. The sun was setting behind him, lending an extra golden halo to his face. Tom looked at him and forgot everything. And when Chris looked down and saw the pale spiral of Tom's tail under the water and leaned even farther over to see his face and smile Tom smiled too. Chris's eyes crinkled at the corners, and all he said was "Tom."

And Tom felt for the first time that it meant something. 

 

***

 

Chris was sitting in the shallow water, running his hands through his dripping hair and gazing out to sea. The water was cold, causing goose bumps to march in an almost pleasurable prickling up and down his arms. The sound of the surf was hypnotic as he waited. The tide was coming in, and soon the rocks he was sitting near would be completely submerged. It was only when the breaking wavelets just crested over his shoulders and he started to shiver in earnest that he came. At first Chris wasn’t sure if he was just seeing the current swirling underneath the waves, but in a moment there was a stirring in the shallow water near his feet, and the golden form of his ethereal lover surged over the rocks and caught him in a tight embrace. Chris’s shirt was already soaked and the thin white fabric rubbed against his skin as Thomas pressed them together, running his tail around Chris’s body in a firm circle, trapping them together in the waves, both equally wet and trembling with desire. 

Tom pressed his lips to Chris’s neck and kissed him hard, making a quick red mark on Chris’s tanned skin. His tail tightened slowly around Chris, pulling them together.

“Augh, Tom, you came. You finally came.” Chris murmured roughly, tilting his head to the endless gray sky and relishing the feel of pressure around him.

“Of course I came. I promised.” Tom purred through his teeth, still pressing his face into Chris’s skin and biting gently. Chris wound his arms around Tom and just sat there in the frigid water. It was only when Chris began to shake gently from something more than cold that Tom realized he was crying. With a gentle exhale Tom carefully relaxed his tail, releasing his hold on his human lover’s body. Chris sniffed and didn’t let go, burying his face in Tom’s shoulder and nuzzling him as he spoke softly, almost as if he were afraid to let the words go. “I was just so scared you wouldn’t come back, Tom. That I would wait forever and you’d never come.” Tom smiled and put his long, thin-fingered hands on either side of Chris’s head, tilting his face up so they were almost nose-to-nose. The waves were growing larger, and broke against Tom’s back as he shielded Chris from the tide. “I will always come back for you Chris. Always.” 


End file.
